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Running two businesses with two kids from a two-bedroom apartment: Laura Byrne's day in the life.

Want to know how your favourite celebs spend their days? Yep, us too. In Mamamia’s A Day in the Life series, high-profile people share everything from what they eat for breakfast to their pre-bedtime rituals. 

This week, we find out what life is like for Laura Byrne during Sydney's lockdown.

Laura Byrne is juggling... a lot.

The mum, podcast host and creative director of Sydney-based jewellery label Toni May is currently locked down in her Bondi apartment with Matty J and their daughters, five-month-old Lola and Marlie-Mae, 2.

But despite entering a four-week lockdown extension along with millions of other Sydneysiders, it's nothing her family can't handle.

"We have a saying, which is that we thrive in chaos," Laura told Mamamia. "That kind of encapsulates what lockdown is for us at the moment."

Watch: Things you never say in 2021. Post continues below.


Video via Mamamia.

Laura and Matt's day starts at 6.30am, with Matt the first one out of bed and tending to their youngest, Lola.

"Lola's body clock is insane," Laura said. "6.30am on the dot she wakes up and that's kind of when we get our day started.

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"Matt's usually the one that gets up first. Even though I'm awake, I kind of lull around in bed until I can muster the courage to get up and face the day."

Ahead of Marlie waking up at 7.30am, Matt will bring Laura - a brand ambassador for Starbucks at Home - a coffee in bed.

"Matt makes me a coffee every single morning; that's kind of like our little routine. He makes me a soy cappuccino and brings it to bed, I have that and [then] have 15 minutes of me-time before the chaos starts," she said.

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After a good hit of caffeine, the first few hours of their day is spent organising their little ones. They get Lola and Marlie fed and then set up for a morning of work.

Laura runs two businesses - her podcast with Brittany Hockley, Life Uncut, and jewellery label, Toni May - which isn't always easy.

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"It's a bit wild to find the right balance for the two and to be able to give them equal amounts of attention," she said.

As she can't currently go into the Toni May office, Laura starts her day with a Zoom or FaceTime with her sister and business partner. Then as she chips away at work, Lola sleeps, while Marlie entertains herself with activities.

"Lola will sleep, she sleeps a lot. She runs on like an hour and a half sleep schedule, which is good," Laura said. 

"But Marlie, we've got a sensory activity kit for her, or her new favourite game is to go and try to collect gum nuts outside in the backyard. So that'll keep her entertained for 45 minutes."

She also faces challenges recording Life Uncut as her co-host Brittany Hockley is currently working in a different time zone (as her partner, tennis player Jordan Thompson, is playing overseas).

"Things for us have been a bit different because Britt's been overseas for a while," she said. "We took a big media break so we've only had to do a couple of recordings from afar. 

"I guess the hardest thing for us is because we live in a two-bedroom apartment - Marlie has her own bedroom and Lola is in our bedroom, but our podcasting equipment and everything and where we do our recording is in our bedroom. 

"So we kind of have to move Lola out and put her in the lounge room when we record and then kind of shuffle her back in. So if we had a bit more space, it would probably be easier, but you just make do."

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Laura acknowledges she couldn't get it all done, in lockdown, without Matt.

"I guess the big thing for Matt and I is trying to divide and conquer. He's really hands on with the kids, which is incredible and I would say that we parent very, very 50/50," she said. 

"He's really great with all the house stuff as well, like Matt will cook dinners and he's not afraid of changing nappies at all."

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And while they both aim to get through all their work during the day, they know they can't have high expectations during lockdown.

"I think the hardest thing is being able to forecast what you're going to be able to do in a day," she said.

"You know, you might have grand ambitions that you're going to get four projects done or four tasks marked off your list of work, [but] then we might have a bad day with the kids and they need more time and more attention from us and we might only get two things done. 

"So I guess it's really being able to kind of just reassess your expectations on a day-to-day situation."

At lunchtime, Laura doesn't eat anything specific, just something to keep her going.

"The time that we have to be productive is so minimal, so sometimes I'll just grab whatever is easy and on the run, which may not be a very well-thought-out meal," she said. 

"But Matt's different. He has to eat like every two hours on the two hours, so we give UberEats a good nudge in this household."

Then come afternoon, the workday slows down and makes room for more important things: TikTok videos.

"On the days where we don't have much work, Matt's like, 'we've got to make a TikTok video today, we've got to make some content'," she said.

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When we spoke to her last Friday, she shared how their next video will be all about when songs get stuck in your head.

"Cocomelon is this terrible TV show, that's on all the time on YouTube and it's [playing] kids' songs. And it's the sort of kid songs that'll haunt you in your dreams. So that's what we're making a TikTok video of," she said.

"A very productive use of our Friday."

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By the end of the day, Laura's favourite stress-reliever is a walk down to Bondi with her dog, Buster.

"It's the perfect reset," she said.

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Then it's time for the girls' bath, dinner and bed.

"They have a bath together now because Lola's a bit bigger, which is always interesting," Laura said. "It usually just involves Marlie trying to drown Lola and us trying to keep one of them afloat."

"[Then] we'll put on something on the TV just to keep Marlie concentrating on eating dinner - she sits in the highchair and feeds herself. 

"I usually do dinner time with Lola and get her ready for bed and then Matt's usually the one to get Marlie ready for bed and he reads books and goes through all that with her."

By 7.30pm, both kids are in bed and it's time for Laura and Matt's dinner. 

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In the Byrne-Johnson household, Matt generally cooks dinner. And there are two meals they opt for during lockdown.

"Matt thrives on positive affirmations so he's got two meals which are my favourite things in the world and we currently run them one repeat," Laura said. 

"So he makes this awesome prawn pasta - the best thing ever - and then he also makes a chicken pie. We will have at least one of those dishes every week."

Followed by some TV (on Wednesdays and Thursdays, The Bachelor, of course), Laura and Matt get back to work - whether that's emails or recording their Bach recap episodes for Life Uncut. 

"We both find that night times are a great time to kind of get back on top of whatever things that we haven't managed to finish in the day so that you're not starting the next day feeling like you're already behind - which is a constant problem when you're juggling kids at home," she said.

Laura tries to get to bed by 10.30pm, followed by Matt between 11-11.30pm.

"It's not normally this frenetic in our household; we normally have a much better routine," Laura said.

"But it's just being locked down, having limited childcare and juggling two kids in a two-bedroom apartment definitely has its challenges."

Read more day in the life articles here:

Feature image: Instagram/@ladyandacat and Mamamia.

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